Crossfire
by KiraraMika101
Summary: Sakura Haruno's life was full of bullets-literally. Her village was known for its danger and death, but, when her parents put her into a ninja academy to help her defend herself, she learns more about her people through her peers, and meets a very unlikely savior.
1. chapter 1

Hey everyone, long time no see. To all those who are waiting patiently for their requests, please PM me back to let me know you are still alive and I will definitely motivate myself to get them to you as fast as I can.

This fanfic is based off of the amazing song called Crossfire by the equally amazing artist, Stephen. Its SasuSaku based so no SasuNaru, Sasurin, or any other crazy ships out there. As always, I try to keep my stories canon-ish so be ready for those hidden Naruto-eggs!

Disclaimer: No owning Naruto or any characters partaking in the anime/manga. Thank you and enjoy.

Also, please review and follow and favorite. I love them. I repeat: love.

* * *

 _We live in hard times._

Sakura squeezed her ears as she curled tightly into her small body, her eyes closed firmly.

She lay on her side so she could feel less fear as the bullets pinged and ricocheted through her already broken window above her head.

Yelling and cursing accompanied the shooting, as well as screams of abrupt silence in the end.

It never seemed to stop, either. Like an old time record playing over and over and over.

Sakura flinched for the millionth time as a head-inducing scream pierced through her covered ears. It was a blood-curdler.

Then it stopped after the sound of bullets ended her. Or him.

Tears streamed down her cheeks and nose. Her pillow was already soaked with them.

 _Momma, poppa, please come get me_.

She thought all the time. But it was only a wishful waste.

They, too, were scared.

And they would just tell her to stay quiet and try to sleep.

She'll get used to it.

 _Ahhhhh-_

 _Silence._

Sakura cried harder.

Somehow, Sakura woke up the next day, still in her bed, splayed and sleep-like. Her green eyes widened into full consciousness, and she sat up.

The cold frigid air of the January month hit the top of her head from her open window, covering the room with its coolness.

She shivered at what she couldn't feel while asleep and looked over her bed to retrieve the small blanket she must have kicked off during the night.

It lay in a pile at the foot, so she reached her hand for it and yanked it back onto the bed.

"Sakura!" shouted her mom suddenly, startling Sakura to leap in fear. However, after hearing sounds of food being made and muffled talking, she relaxed. It was only her mom making breakfast.

Sakura carefully scooted off her bed, her father's gray shirt falling past her bare knees, and moved around the glass on the floor to get to her door.

It, like the walls and the window in her room, was stained with old blood stains and riddled with holes from the wayward shots people took through her window.

She left the room.

"...and she's not safe here with us anymore"

"That's true, but we can't-"

Her parents stopped abruptly when Sakura padded softly into the kitchen, calmly giving them a "what are you talking about without me here" stare.

"Sakura! Finally," her mom exclaimed with the same green eyes as hers. The only difference was the dullness it tended to take when she looked at her.

"I called you fifteen times now. What were you doing!?"

"I couldn't sleep." she said, climbing onto the stool next to her father.

And that seemed to answer her question completely. She closed her lips tightly, glared at her husband, and turned back to the stove.

"Sakura, your father and I decided today that you would be going to the academy. The ninja school in the main village." She turned to look at her. "You know what I'm talking about, right?"

Sakura looked up at her in surprise. She knew about the academy, yes. It was the school for those born in a ninja family. It was the most prestigious life Sakura ever heard of. But, why was her mother telling her she would be going there? She wasn't a ninja, and neither was her family.

Sakura looked over at her dad for his reaction, seeing him stare down the table with a fierce determination.

"Dad?" he winced at her voice and grunted. He knew what was coming.

"Yes, honey?"

"Why did you agree with mom?"

"I, uh-"

Her mom set her stirring spoon down on the stove-top with a loud clunk, startling the both of them.

"That's enough, Sakura. You heard me loud and clear, and I will not tolerate your rudeness." She turned, then, green eyes blazing.

"Your father had nothing to do with this. I'm making the decisions here."

Sakura stared. "But, mom, we're not ninjas!"

"I know that. But it's not like regular people can't go and learn to be one. Witch you will be doing."

"Darling" her father started, noticing the fear in Sakura's eyes.

"You're scaring her."

Her mom softened when she glanced at her, and her frown turned into a smile.

"We already made the arrangements, Blossom. You're going, but, what kind of parents would we be if we didn't check to see how well you'd fit? Iruka-sensei is a nice man. He'll teach you all you need to know to catch up with those other kids. Trust us."

 _Trust us._

Sakura stared at her.

Sakura did trust them. They were all she trusted in the world of pain and death she had to live with.

However, she also knew, even at her young age of eight, that her parents was doing this to protect her.

She knew it from the way they snuck looks at her when she wasn't looking. When one would leave for work and Sakura would glimpse the outside world, and see the bodies of dead people from the nights before.

And because of the nights.

Especially the nights.

She had to protect herself somehow, becoming a ninja was a good opportunity.

When she looked back up at her mother, she knew her mother realized she figured the reason out, because a smile appeared on her face.

"You want me to learn how to defend myself." Sakura said matter-of-factly.

"Darn it, Sakura. You're too smart for your own good." her mom answered, chucking to herself. She turned back to the food, beginning to serve the plates with a low hum.

As with the act of the ninja academy, Sakura knew the humming was more to calm Sakura down and show her that life wasn't so bad. Her father, too, acted like a goofball for her sake.

"Yes, dear, we want you to be able to defend yourself in this world." her mom continued. "Not only will you be a ninja, but you'll be working in teams and essentially forming bonds that will last a lifetime. More protection for you in hindsight."

Sakura's gut dropped at the thought of having to talk to people, but she shook it away to regard the rather exciting thought of being a ninja.

A ninja, like the clan kids.

She smiled to herself.

 _And one day, maybe, I can finally save my family from this place._

The sounds of last night rang in her ears, and the sounds before those.

Her family would never have to hear them again.

Her father noticed her look, and put a big hand on her head. She looked up at him, startled.

He grinned. "School starts in three days kiddo. We just wanted you to know before the day started so don't worry too much about it. Just wait it out."

Sakura nodded. "Right!"

So, when the food was served, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and grits, Sakura dug in happily. Having something else to focus on besides her daily dread of the next night was bliss.


	2. Chapter 2

_Konoha_.

Sakura stared at the town before her, eyes wide at the beautiful place. There were no holes riddled in the orange and white bricks, the merchant structures were intact and alive. Nothing was almost falling apart or smelling of death and blood.

It was everything in her fantasies.

"Come on, Sakura," Her mother cooed, gently pushing her along with them as they passed people with smiling faces and friendly atmospheres. She was surprised.

This place was so different from her village where people gave each other looks of spite and disgust.

And her parents told her that the Hokage of Konohagakure was residing in this place. She already knew from her many history books about the Hokages and what they did, including about this one, but she honestly never expected to be under the same roof as him! Her father especially, was eager to see the Hokage of their world, having only heard powerful tales about the legendary ninja from her grandparents, and relaying them to his daughter.

Sakura's heart beat with hope.

What if...this was a good thing?

"A good thing..." Sakura whispered to herself as she walked.

The words felt so weird on her tongue.

"What was that, honey?" her father asked her, giving her a raised eyebrow. He was smiling as usual, but this time it seemed brighter. He could feel the possibilities of this impossible place too.

"Nothing!" Sakura smiled big at him, and turned back to watching the crowds around them.

They, too, had daughters and sons walking by their sides. Some with the same standard blue bag on their backs like her.

Immediately she was reminded of the tall ninja that came to her front door that day to give her parents her school supplies.

Unfortunately, her parents had whisked her away when the door banged, as habit for as long as she could remember, and told her to stay in her room.

Sakura did as she was told, of course, but she looked out of her broken window to see the person after his stay, and that was the first time she saw a real Jounen.

He was tall and wearing a bulletproof suit, and he looked strong.

He was the very epitome of hard-training and peace Sakura had read many times in her mother's books.

The man handed over her academy supplies and told her a few more things, then waved goodbye.

He seemed as nice as the people around them.

Sakura looked up at her mother now, wanting to tell her about the ninja man, and saw her slightly worried expression. She frowned, following her green eyes to the large crowd ahead of them.

They were getting closer to the academy gates, and a long line of people was in the way. Pocketed among them were gray uniformed wearing men, much like the ninja who came to her door with her school supplies, holding a pen and scroll.

"State your name,"

A person asked them. Sakura jumped, and without looking at him, hid close behind her father.

He greeted the stranger.

"Hi, my name is Hiza-"

"I mean the one attending, sir." The man pointed his ink pen down to Sakura, who squeezed her eyes shut into her father's bottom.

"Ah...Mezuki, please," she heard him whisper to her mom, then her mom's hand touched her head gently.

"Come on, now, Sakura. Let your father talk."

Sakura looked forlornly up at her, then reluctantly extracted herself from her father.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Anyhoo," began her father to the man again, whom was looking bored.

"This is Sakura Haruno. She's enrolled here in this academy and-"

"Hizashi, he knows," hissed his wife.

"Sakura Haruno..." mused the man, browsing his scroll. Then his eyes flitted back to her parents.

"You must be new. Haruno isn't a name I'm familiar with."

"No," laughed her father. "Probably not since we're not from around here."

"You're civilians." asked the man, but it came off as a statement instead. Sakura watched the man's face carefully, wondering why he asked so weirdly. He had to be the first person she met here who was not so nice.

The man sighed heavily and went back to his scroll to check, Sakura now understood, her name off the list.

"You understand this is for people with _gifts_ right? If this one doesn't have the determination and skill to succeed as a ninja, you will essentially be killing your daughter."

 _What?_

Sakura looked quickly at her mother, who was staring at the man with the same expression as her's, except her mother's was stronger.

And nastier.

"Who do you _think_ you are, telling us our daughter isn't fit to be a ninja! Are you out of your mind?!"

The man looked surprised at her mom's outburst, blinking a few times.

Sakura would have giggled if she wasn't so scared of the attention from the crowd they were getting.

Her mom was her hero, but sometimes she went too far.

Hizashi dived into the situation with a sudden apologetic grin at the man, restraining his wife at the same time. Though her father looked just as angry as her mom.

"Forgive my wife, good sir, but you _are_ being a little... discriminatory."

The man scoffed, shaking the embarrassment of having a woman yell at him away. "Yeah, yeah, just hurry up and say goodbye to your girl already so I can do my job."

This shocked Sakura and her parents. She turned to look at the people already through the gates ahead of them, noticing only children her age milling around and waiting for something else to happen. There were no adults, save for the security guards, by their sides.

Sakura suddenly felt queasy.

"What? Say goodbye?" asked her father. "But, we haven't passed the gate yet! I thought we'd get to go into the building with her. Maybe even meet the Hokage or the teacher-"

"No. This is how we run business now. Ever since the gate was erected after the Haruno wars."

Sakura perked at that. Her parents frowned.

 _The Haruno wars!? What's that?_

Then the man seemed to realize what he said, and he started to bark at them to move along, when he froze.

It seemed like he was connecting the dots with something.

"You're _the_ Haruno. The village cursed by the nine-tailed fox!"

Some people close by gasped, starting to back up from the family, but most just ignored them.

Sakura was staring at him with surprise, wondering at his exclamation. He was still pointing at them, looking like he was going to faint right there, when someone yelled at him to move the line along.

The man blinked at that, and seemed to go back to normal when he realized no one cared much about his gestulizations.

"Sir," her father spoke then. His voice made Sakura whirl on him, stunned at how angry he sounded.

Her father watched the man with unusual steely brown eyes, scaring Sakura.

Her father was never serious if he could help it.

Her mom, too, looked fearlessly at the freaked out man, her back stiff. Sakura watched them with awe.

They seemed so different.

"Please, allow our daughter inside." Sakura's father said formally. "This should not be a problem for her."

The man seemed to sneer, but he moved without a word, pointing to the gates with his finger.

"Go that way. Jinn will see you inside _safely."_ He spat that last word out with spite, glaring at Sakura's parents. Sakura's mom didn't care, she got close to his face. "This better not affect my little girl. She was not involved."

The man's expression was stone. "Of course."

And her parents turned to look at her, returning back to their original selves like nothing happened.

"Have a good time, sweet heart," her father smiled wide, kissing her forehead. Blushing badly, Sakura squirmed in his grip when she noticed people watching.

"Dad!" He just laughed, ignoring the people around them.

"Behave yourself,Blossom," her mom warned her. Her green eyes were serious when she looked down at her daughter. It made Sakura's blush vanish as quickly as the questions came rushing in her head.

She opened her mouth to ask them, when her mother bent down and kissed her cheek.

"Focus on your studies and don't let anyone bully you." she whispered in her ear.

Sakura stared at her as she straightened and turned to the man waiting before them.

She nodded once to him, a sharp movement, and led Sakura to Jinn waiting at the gates.

Through the bars Sakura could see the other kids. Some already had weapons from home and were showing them off to their friends. It intimidated Sakura instantly.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

Her parents were speaking to the tall ninja named Jinn, who answered their questions friendly enough, but Sakura wasn't really listening until her dad nudged her head.

She looked up at him worriedly.

His smile faded. "What is it, honey?"

Sakura wanted to tell him she didn't want to go to the academy anymore. She didn't realize how scary it would be, and how under-grade she would be compared to everyone.

But.

She looked over at her mom, who was still talking with the man.

 _I still want to protect my family. And I don't want to go back home to my horrible village without learning something about fighting!_

She looked back to her father, planting a big fake brave smile on.

"Nothing!" she chirped. "Nothing at all!"

Her dad gave her his smile, oblivious to the turmoil in her gut.

"So, we come and pick her up around six? That's good," her mom finished speaking with the man, and turned back to her family.

"Time for us to go, Sakura. This is a big step for you. I know you can do this''

Sakura looked surprised at her mom. She believed in her that much?"

It spurred her to react.

"Thanks, mom." she said gratefully. "I'll do my best!"

And they gave her one final hug before leaving her to the man near the gate. He was as tall as any of the ninja adults Sakura had seen, and he smiled a little at her. She briefly wondered what he had been talking about with her mom, then he spoke.

"Time to start school. Are you ready?"

Sakura wasn't sure about being ready, but she was looking forward to the academy.

She nodded at him, and he led her through the gates to the rest of the children.

 _Something I want to say..._

There isn't really any info regarding Sakura's village and Haruno as a whole, so I made it up to the best of my ability. Also, as you guys have found out, the Haruno village is _messed up_. I don't like the fact that Sakura is the only normal one out of team seven, so I spiced her life up a little.

Please feed me back.


	3. Chapter 3

_Review please_

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It struck her as sudden as the gates shutting on her, that she was alone.

With a bunch of kids her age.

She turned around to look wild-eyed at the man who was leaving her, his attention on the next family near the gates.

A young blond couple and a girl with blue eyes. The girl stood between them as her parents talked to the gate person. As if feeling eyes on her, she turned her head and saw Sakura.

She smiled a little at Sakura's shocked expression at getting caught, and the girl gave a short wave.

 _Another ninja,_ Sakura thought, turning quickly away from her. It wasn't that Sakura disliked ninjas or anything, no, she was pretty fascinated by them. But, it was like they were celebrities to regular people like her. How could she go to the same school with them?

"Hey," spoke a voice behind her, disrupting her nervous thoughts.

Sakura turned to the voice, eyes widening ever more.

The girl was orange-haired and wearing a simple black shirt and jeans.

And she spoke to _her._

She looked Sakura up and down, assessing her stricken form. Then gave her a predatory smile that made Sakura's heart flip flop in fear.

"Your forehead is so big." she said simply.

This shocked Sakura, and she reached up to touch her forehead. "Huh?"

The girl smirked. "Your forehead. And your hair is weird, too. What? Is it supposed to be dyed?"

Before Sakura could answer to that, the girl looked behind her. "Hey, girls!" she shouted to her friends across the yard.

Sakura's gut clenched as she watched five girls stand from a corner near the school and walk over to them. They had seemed to be surrounding something, even looking a bit glum as they came forward.

When they saw Sakura, however, their eyes lit up as mischievously as the other girl's.

Sakura gulped.

"Look at her forehead, have you ever seen something so big before?" The orange haired girl laughed, prompting the others to follow.

"Eww, is that, like, a thing for you clanless villagers or something?" said another girl. They continued to laugh.

Sakura, in tears, began to back away from them.

"I-I'm sorry, I-"

"Sasuke!" They squealed, startling Sakura so bad, she jumped back into someone's arms.

The girls gasped, drowning out her own as she quickly beelined out of the embrace, and tripped.

She would have fallen flat on her face if someone's arm hadn't caught her just in time.

She felt her hair fall past her face, and looked up between the strands of pink to see her saviour.

It was a boy with dark hair and a seriously annoyed face. He glared cooly at Sakura,her body pressed to his.

 _Uh oh..._

"You're in my way," he said, seeming like he didn't care one way or another.

"S-sorry!" she yelped, staring at him with a little fear.

Will he pick on her too?

But, instead of continuing his conversation, he let her go and started to walk to the steps of the academy. He passed the tree in the front yard, a large swing on it empty of anyone.

Sakura suddenly wished she was like that invisible person on the swing when the girls near her suddenly changed their attitude.

Now their eyes spelled hate.

Sakura shivered and moved quickly toward the academy steps, too.

She felt it was best if she stood near the doors, away from everyone.

Unfortunately she wasn't paying attention to where she was going,her eyes on the angry girls, and tripped against a step.

 _Oh no, not again!_

"Watch out!"

"What the-"

She felt the air rush up in her face as she fell, and smashed into the person who tried to speak in front of her.

The place quickly became silent.

Sakura had her eyes closed, so she couldn't see what was going on, but she felt her lips pressed against someone else's and the owners heartbeat running as fast against her own.

 _Oh...crap._

Sakura yanked herself up as if her life depended on it, and scrambled off of the person with a bunch of incomprehensible words.

She was busy staring at the ground and blushing when the boy spoke up.

"Gods, will you be quiet. It was an accident."

Sakura looked up then, surprised at the voice, and saw that it was the same boy she had stepped into earlier.

"Sa-Sasuke!?"

She just embarrassed him twice! Briefly she wondered why he didn't go inside the building like he seemed to be doing when she bumped into him the first time, then realized the doors were locked.

 _Oh yeah, even I was planning to sit on the steps earlier. I'm so stupid for thinking that!_

Or rather, she was rattled into forgetting. You don't just go around accidentally kissing people and _not_ be shaken.

The crowd around them all talked at once about the spectacle, the girls who bullied her being the loudest, but Sasuke only rubbed his lips and looked annoyed.

Sakura wanted to die, this was really turning into a nightmare!

"Hey, new girl!" shouted the orange-haired girl who first spoke to her.

Sakura flinched, her blush deepening, and turned fearfully to look at her.

She wished she hadn't.

The girl was holding a kunai knife in her hand, brandished in front of her like she wanted to fight. Most of the kids had moved out of the way, forming a half circle around her and the academy so the adults behind the gates couldn't see.

"Come and fight me, village girl!"

The crowd grinned eagerly, ready to see some action, but mindful enough of the adults ten feet away to keep quiet.

Hah!?

"Wait, wait, wait!" screeched Sakura as someone grabbed her arm and shoved her in front of the angry girl.

"This is for stealing my first kiss with Sasuke!" she battle-cried, and ran for her.

Sakura was struck dumb. She was really going to kill her with that thing? B-but, Sakura didn't know how to fight! How was she supposed to-

 _Ding!_

The crowd let out a gasp as a surprised squeal split Sakura's ears.

Eyes squeezed shut, she finally peeled them open to see Sasuke's back, a red and white fan she vaguely familiarized with glared at her from the dark fabric. The kunai that was meant for her was embedded safely in the ground next to his feet.

However, Sakura's eyes were on the person in front of him, to the girl with blue eyes holding the other girl in a headlock.

"Now, say you're sorry, Martina!" the girl shouted loudly, squeezing her squirming form. "Now!"

"Ack, alright! Stop choking me!"

"Not until I hear you say it!"

The girl, Martina, spit at the ground. "Sorry!" she angrily shouted at Sakura. "Now let me go, Ino!"

She did, with a triumphant smile on her lips. "Go back to your little puppy followers, lover girl. Sasuke don't want you, and neither does she," she pointed at Sakura, who was still on the ground, mouth wide open.

Sasuke perked at his name being mentioned, whom moved from his position in front of Sakura a long time ago, and glowered at the blond haired girl.

"Don't speak for me," he said with an annoyed look.

The girl only laughed.

"Why did you guys have to butt in like that," whined a boy from the crowd. "It was getting to the good part!"

Ino glared at him, then at all the other people who were watching.

Her face said shame on you all, and turned to Martina. The orange haired girl glared up with hate in her eyes as she rubbed her neck.

"I can't believe you're in the same grade as me. I hope we never see each other in the classrooms."

"Better watch out with that one, Martina," Ino chuckled darkly. "It just might happen!"

As they were bickering, Sakura got the feeling someone was watching her, and turned her head to see Sasuke's eyes on her.

She suddenly rememered the kiss out of nowhere, and blushed an embarrassed red.

"I-I'm sorry for- kiss-you-helping me-kunai..." she trailed off when she realized she was talking gibberish and the girls had stopped talking to watch her. "Ahh,"

Sasuke held out his hand silently, looking away. Startled, Sakura realized she was still sitting, and grabbed his hand quickly to stand up. As soon as their hands touched, Sasuke turned to her with a quick, but surprised look.

Their point of contact made a shock between them.

Sakura yanked her hand to the sky to break their contact, as if raising her hand for a teacher, her face crimson red.

"S-sorry!"

Sasuke just gave her another annoyed look. "For what? I only helped you up."

"But, I-"

"Alright, kids!" yelled a woman who seemed to come out of nowhere. She stood at the steps, brown eyes hard on them all.

Sakura was instantly frightened of her.

Was all ninja teachers going to be like that?

"Everyone line up single file so we can go into the building," she said over the kids groaning. Some, mostly the girls, were glaring openly at Sakura.

"This year is going to be the best year yet. We have so many talented ninjas here who come from equally talented clans. And we hope all of you will succeed in protecting your home one day. Any questions?"

No one raised their hands.

Scooting inconspicuously away from her peers, she took the back of the line, as nearly every girl, including Ino to Sakura's surprise, tried to get closer to Sasuke. It created a big knot in the "line".

The woman on the steps got angry.

"I said a _line,_ people!"

Sakura sighed heavily in her mind. What a start to her first day at school!


	4. chapter 4

There were two hundred and ten students enrolled in the academy. Thirty of those were separated into classes to be taught by one teacher.

However, Sakura only cared about the two ninjas sitting beside her at their shared table: Ino and Sasuke, and their own teacher, Iruka-sensei.

She was secretly happy and relieved this arrangement was made, it was a satisfying thing not to deal with Martina or her friends, who were sent off with the others down another hall.

Far away from Sakura.

Add that to Iruka sensei's hard, but relaxing teaching, and Sakura was finally comfortable for the first time.

If only she could get rid of the thought of something coming through the windows around them and smattering her classroom with bullets.

She forced herself to forget the broken images of the new faces beside her, shivering inside at the prospect of them lying dead and bleeding on the tiled floor beneath her feet.

 _No one else has these kinds of thoughts!_ She whimpered inside her mind, disturbed. _I have to be normal._

It was like a curse she had, thinking of such things. However, it was also her life.

" _Snort"_

Sakura jumped at the sound beside her, turning her head to look at the blond haired girl lying against the desk.

She fidgeted with her fingers. Iruka-sensei was talking about the concepts of what being a ninja was like, and Sakura knew she should have been paying more attention, but the fact that she was beside a girl currently snoring on their shared desk was distracting.

Plus,the other fact where she _still_ hadn't thanked her or Sasuke for their help was gnawing at her mind, but she just chalked that up to nerves.

Iruka-sensei, still talking about ninja basics, moved to the blackboard.

"By the way, if a certain Kunoichi isn't up by the time I turn my head, she will have detention with me and the Hokage. And no recess."

Sakura was shocked, looking at Ino by her side, still snoring away. She wanted to wake her up so bad, but what if she didn't want her to?!

 _But she's going to get into trouble if you don't do it! Don't you want to repay her for helping you earlier?_

Sakura began to hypervilenate within herself, torn between her doubts and her desire to help the girl, when Sasuke poked her smoothly in the side.

She thrust her head up like she'd gotten zapped, mouth open. "Up! I'm up!"

The class laughed out loud.

However, Sakura was not laughing, stiff from her indecision to help, and then from the disappointment of someone else taking her chance.

She watched forlornly as Ino rubbed off her drool and flashed a smile of thanks at Sasuke.

"Thank you!" She gushed. "aren't you a lifesaver."

"You don't even know what he saved you from, Ino," said a pissed off sounding kid.

Sakura and Ino both looked behind them at the person who spoke. It was a boy with short blond hair styled up in shorter spikes on top of his head. His blue eyes were narrowed securely on the back of Sasuke's head. Sakura felt a little annoyance at his obvious dislike, but didn't say anything.

"And did _you_ think to wake me up, orphan boy?" Ino bit sharply, glaring at him.

 _Orphan?_ Thought Sakura, she took a double take at the boy. He wore a dirty orange jacket and a blue shirt underneath. She could see it because the jacket was fashioned to have no sleeves.

The boy turned his blue eyes on Ino, about to speak, until he caught Sakura watching. With his mouth still open, he blushed a deep red and started stuttering.

"I-I-I could have if he hadn't d-d-done it first!"

He managed to get out, eyes still on Sakura. Confused to be looked at this way, Sakura turned back to Iruka-sensei- who was staring at them with a hard glare.

Finally, Ino and the boy noticed the place was quiet, and turned to see Iruka-sensei too.

The teacher grinned darkly. "Are we done?" he asked, stressing every word.

The three of them nodded in fear.

Iruka-sensei shook his head and returned back to his teaching.

Sakura tried to get back to work, but Ino's staring made it hard to concentrate.

She was getting into his lecturing better, however, when the Jounen started talking about Genjutsu.

"Genjutsu is like putting someone in a dream, and there are different types-"

"That's Sasuke for ya," said Ino in her ear, scaring Sakura to her wits. "Uchiha's never fail."

 _Fail at what?_

Then she remembered when he poked her awake. Was she even listening to the teacher?

Sakura wanted to say something back to the talkative girl, but she was still afraid she might do something wrong and didn't want the girl to stop talking to her anyway.

Then she thought of what Ino said and snuck a look at Sasuke. There was a reason why everyone thought he was so cool.

The dark-haired boy was part of the infamous clan of the Uchiha, the most powerful and dedicated people Sakura ever heard of. If Ino said Sasuke _did_ fail at something, she wouldn't have believed her. Like hers, however, the Uchiha had a bad reputation. Sakura didn't know what it was, though, and she wasn't about to ask Sasuke about it.

Besides being afraid of making conversation with the most popular kid in the academy, she didn't even know about _her_ village's bad reputation.

And just like that, thoughts of her people came back to her.

She grabbed at her pink locks, squeezing her eyes closed to try to stop thinking.

 _No,no,no, no! Only school thoughts, only school thoughts, only-"_

"Haruno?"

Sakura jumped at her name, and popped open her eyes to look at Iruka-sensei's concerned face. To her embarrassment, everyone else was watching too.

"Are you ok?"

She tried to ignore everyone's eyes on her, especially the ones beside her.

"I'm fine," she squeaked out, and blushed horribly when she heard snickering around the room.

Iruka-sensei was still giving her a weird look, but he moved on with a reassuring smile and pointed at his handwriting on the board.

"Anyone know why shinobi must never cry in front of their peers?"

Sakura was startled to see the tanned-skinned Jounen ninja still looking at her.

 _Does he want me to answer it?!_

Fearful, she opened her mouth to say anything. Then a cool, relaxed voice spoke instead, cutting her off.

"To show emotion is to show weakness."

 _Sasuke_

Sakura looked over Ino's equally shocked face to Sasuke on her other side. He was staring ahead, like talking volunteeringly didn't come as a surprise to him.

"Correct, Uchiha. You never skip a beat, do ya?" He added with a chuckle, and turned to the blackboard behind him.

The girls in the room seemed to swoon at Sasuke without Sakura seeing, and it sort of creeped her out how she just _knew_ they were doing that. There was a "hmph" sound behind her.

Ino nudged her suddenly. "Hey," she whispered in her ear. Iruka-sensei was still looking at the board, so Sakura turned to her.

Ino's blue eyes were narrowed, thoughtful. " _Are_ you ok? Really?"

Sakura nodded her head, surprised.

"Y-yes, why would you say that?"

Ino continued to look at her strangely.

"I want to ask you something later. During lunch."

"Huh?"

" _Lunch._ You and me. And..."

She trailed off, looking slyly at Sasuke, and raised her voice a little for him to hear. "Sasuke, too!" she nudged him in a cuddly way to get his attention. "Right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned an irritated glare on her. "Listen to the teacher."

"But are you gonna go to lunch with us?"

For some reason, Sakura felt her heart speed as he turned to look at them together, then he sighed.

"I don't eat lunch here."

"Huh?" asked a bewildered Ino. "Then where do you eat lunch? We'll come with you!" She was practically hanging off him now.

He looked so irritated as he pushed at her head to get her off him.

"Let me go," he growled.

"Yamanaka, this is your last warning!"

Shouted Iruka sensei, turning around to laser-eye her. "Let him go now, and stop talking over me."

Ino, moved away fast, giving him her most innocent smile.

"Sorry, sensei." She sing-songed. And winked at Sakura when he turned around.

Like the genjutsu she learned about from her teacher, Sakura was put in a daze. A giddy daze.

 _I was asked by someone to eat with!_

Perhaps her first day at school wasn't so bad, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

The bell rang for lunch.

"Uh oh," Iruka-sensei got to say before he was squashed between the wall and a stampede of hungry kids running for the lunch room.

When almost everyone had left, he peeled himself off in a daze.

"The hell's wrong with kids these days," he muttered to himself.

"'When it comes to food, we turn into animals', that's what my brother always say."

Sasuke said, walking toward the door with a bag over his shoulder.

Iruka sensei was shocked to see him still in the room, then he noticed Sakura sitting in her seat working, and blanched.

"Y-you guys didn't hear me curse, ok?" He pleaded to Sasuke.

Sakura looked up from her paper with a smile.

Sasuke shrugged. "My family uses that language all the time." And began to walk out of the door.

"Wait, Uchiha," called Iruka-sensei. Sasuke paused, looking back at him with a look of indifference.

"Yes?"

"Heading off to your village? Make sure you let me know beforehand, ok? I have a duty to protect you kids during school hours."

Sasuke nodded, and disappeared out of the door.

Sakura still didn't move. After she told Ino to go ahead without her to finish up on Iruka-sensei's homework, a sheet to memorize Justus, she'd wanted to finish taking notes. Now done quicker than she thought she'd be, she stood and walked up to him.

"Ah, sir, I just needed to finish this and-"

"Haruno," her teacher interrupted once he realized her. "Forgive me for interrupting, but I've been meaning to ask you something. Well, don't get scared, but it was me and the Hokage who wanted to talk to you."

Sakura stared at him, seeing that he wasn't finished yet.

He blushed and looked away. "And some of the teachers that know you're here."

Sakura gasped, her heart thudding in her chest.

"I-why- uh, why do they-" she stammered fearfully, but was interrupted again by someone else.

"Surprise attaaaaack!"

Something orange blurred past her to crash right into the teacher's desk, and Iruka sensei nearly went backward.

"What the- _Naruto!"_

Sakura watched as the same boy who argued back with Ino stood back from the desk where he unintentionally hit his head, and shook it hard.

"Owww," he groaned, gripping it as he rode the pain waves.

Sakura realized the boy had shot from the middle of the classroom and tried to hit Iruka-sensei, but calculated all wrong and hit the desk instead. If he calculated at all.

Iruka sensei laughed, watching Naruto with a pained but warm smile on his face.

"Will you stop trying to do that, Naruto? This is literally the first day of school! Don't give me a reason to punish you."

Naruto growled, still rubbing his head.

"I want to eat ramen, Iruka-sensei, take me!"

"Well," Iruka sensei droned, softening at his request.

Naruto pulled himself on top of Iruka-sensei's desk to get in his face.

"SENSEI!" he shouted. Finally, Iruka-sensei's face turned sour, and he shoved Naruto down with a little shout of his own.

"Alright, Naruto!"

"Ack!" Naruto's forehead pressed into the table, Iruka-sensei's hand making it impossible for him to get loose.

"Hey, let me go, already," Naruto whined. "I was just kidding around, can't you take a joke?"

"Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you not to pull pranks on me in school? This is a place to learn, not to harass yourself."

Sakura watched the banter of the two with amusement.

She remembered what Ino called Naruto two hours ago during their teacher's lecturing period.

She called him an orphan, but those were, to her knowledge, children who had no one to love them.

That didn't seem to be the case here.

Naruto finally got loose, poofing into nonexistence with a shady laugh.

Surprised at the trick, Sakura whirled around to search for him. Iruka-sensei was startled. "Hey!" he gasped.

Sakura heard Naruto poof behind her, and turned to meet him, only to get a big bear hug.

" _Oof,"_ she let out a breath as he squeezed her. His blond hair tickled her cheek.

"I love you, Sakura!" He declared loudly, and pulled back to give her a serious look. "You should come with us to Ichiraku."

Sakura tried to mumble something, blushing at his announcement. Wasn't he embarrassed too?

Their sensei burst out laughing, sitting back in his chair.

"Eight year olds are such a riot!"

Sakura and Naruto gave him a confused but annoyed look. What was so funny?

"Anyway," Iruka-sensei said, standing and rubbing a tear out of his eye. "Before you interrupted us, Naruto, I was telling Ms. Haruno, here, something. After I talk to her, we'll all go to Ichiraku's for lunch, if that's ok with you, Sakura?" he asked, looking at her still in Naruto's grip. His face was bloated with air like he was trying to hold in laughter.

She finally got the feeling his amusement was directed at them, and blushingly pushed Naruto away.

Startled, Naruto let her. He blinked innocently. "What? Do you want to go or not?"

"Not," Sakura said, folding her arms and turning away in annoyance.

"Ino wants me to eat with her."

Naruto growled at the name. "That girl who like 'Sasuke'?" He demanded, using a high pitched voice to copy all the girls in the classroom.

"Why do ya wanna go with someone like her? All she's gonna talk about is that show off!"

Sakura gave him a glare.

"And what will _you_ talk about? How much you're jealous of him?"

Everyone froze at that, and turned to see Ino standing at the door looking pissed.

Sakura's eyes went wide.

Did she come here for her!?

"Yamanaka," Iruka-sensei greeted. "Why are you back here? Lunch isn't over yet."

"Sakura was taking long so I came to see what was up. Sakura?"

Sakura was still standing still, too afraid to move.

 _I...can't believe this. I've never had anyone except my parents_ wait _on me before._

She actually thought Ino had given up on her and ate with some other people.

She suddenly remembered what her mom used to tell her growing up. How you knew a friend by their willingness to be patient for you.

Sakura wanted to cry.

Was this what she meant?

And then Iruka sensei crushed her dreams.

"Sorry, Yamanaka, Sakura has to go with me to meet the Hokage."

Sakura and Ino frowned at the same time.

"Why?" she asked, her blue eyes on him.

Iruka-sensei shook his head.

"It isn't anything you should worry about. She'll be back soon. The lunch schedule for today is an hour. Plenty of time to eat and gossip."

He started for the door.

"Wait!" Sakura said, stopping him. She didn't know where she got this newfound backbone from, but she was going to use it.

"I-I don't want to go right now." She said bravely. "Can I go after school? With my parents?"

Something in Iruka's eyes shifted then, and Sakura froze.

Her head hurt suddenly, a sharp pain that lanced through to the heart, and she shouted.

"Sakura!?" spoke Iruka-sensei and the others. They sounded worried as Iruka sensei stood stand next to her.

" _Sakura_ ,"

Sakura looked up at him, expecting to see his smooth clean face, but saw instead a face that dripped blood and wore raised dark skin.

" _Sakura? Don't tell on me..."_

She screamed.

"Sakura! Sakura, stop! It's just me!" Iruka sensei shouted, shaking her shoulders. She finally calmed down when his face went back to normal, but he looked even more freaked than earlier.

"What happened? Why did you suddenly scream like that?"

Sakura stared with wide eyes at him, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

" I don't-I don't know." She whimpered. "My head just hurt."

 _And I saw you as a monster._

Ino and Naruto had unconsciously banded together during her brief episode, and they now crept closer to her.

She stepped back.

"What happened, Sakura?" asked Ino.

Sakura thought of those words the not-Iruka spoke to her, when it said not to tell on him.

She pressed her lips together, afraid for her life.

"Sakura?" Iruka-sensei said sternly. She jerked her head toward him, red flags going off at the edge in his voice.

He started to take a step toward her, opening his mouth again, but Sakura shook her head hard and leapt back.

"DONT TOUCH ME!"

and she ran past her classmates to the door.

She had to _run._

"Sakura!" All of them shouted after her, but to her ears they sounded just like that monster.

 _Nonononono!_

Sakura ran until her feet hurt, and she stumbled against metal that clattered when she hit it.

She glimpsed it as some lockers as she slumped to the ground next to it.

Her heart pounded hard in the silence of the hall, everyone having left to eat lunch, and she squeezed shut her eyes.

 _What was that monster? Why was it my teacher? What's going on?_

"Oh ho!" Exclaimed a proud-sounding voice. "Look what the bubblegum factory spit out,"

Stiffening, Sakura lifted her face, and immediately wished she'd stayed with that monster.

It would have been better to deal with than _this_ Monster.

She stood in front of Sakura with her hands fisted on her hips. The Academy-issued blue bag was over one tanned shoulder.

Martina grinned wide, an evil twinkle in her dark eyes. "Oh, wait," she continued from her earlier comment. "It's just the little cursed baby."

 _Just my luck._


	6. chapter 6

Sakura almost groaned as she watched Martina drop her bag, the grin still on her face. Did she want to fight her now?

"Hey, forehead girl," The girl suddenly said. "You think you're so cool because you stole Sasuke's first kiss, huh?"

Was this girl really serious? Sakura was not in the mood for this! How did she even find her way on _Martina's_ hall of all places.

"It was an accident," said Sakura, hoarsely. Her throat was tight from crying. "You can even ask him."

"Ask him?" the girl scoffed. "he's _cool._ You don't ask cool people lame questions, dummy!"

Sakura just blinked at her. She was crazy.

"So," said Sakura awkwardly. "Can I leave now?"

Martina narrowed her eyes at her, a nasty smirk on her face.

"No." She said. "I have a surprise for you."

 _A surprise!?_

Sakura's head began to hurt. However, it was not as worse as it was back in the classroom, and she felt she could hold her own this time.

"Leave me alone, Martina. Please, I'm not feeling well."

And with that thought in mind, she remembered what she was doing: Running.

"I-I have to go!" Sakura almost pleaded with the girl, and made to skirt around her. Down the hall was the double doors that led outside.

The girl moved forward suddenly, so fast Sakura didn't have time to react when she was grabbed in an armlock.

"Ahhh!"

she cried out as she went into the air over the girl's back, and hit the floor.

Her body hurt too much to cry.

"Ha, she's even weak. A simple move like that shouldn't have been a problem for you if you were _really_ a ninja, civilian girl." Martina spat that last part out, and crouched before her head.

 _Why can't she just leave me alone!?_

The girl grabbed a fistful of her hair, and lifted her to her face.

"Listen, you messed up pink-haired freak. You kissed Sasuke with those cursed lips of yours," she got close in her face with a smile.

"And now your village's curse won't be the only thing that will kill you."

Sakura gasped, staring at her. What was she talking about? What curse?

As if to answer her question, the sounds of distant shooting and blood filled her head, the lullaby of her life. She shrieked in surprise and shut her eyes to shake them out.

Martina just threatened her, something their teachers told them never to do in a school setting. If Sakura told on her...

The girl seemed to note Sakura's thoughts and she shoved down her head painfully.

"Don't even think about telling on me!"

She snarled. "I know people in your stupid village. I can get them to kill a certain Haruno family easily."

Wait a minute! That was going to far.

Sakura felt her heart stop for a moment, then she looked up with a glower at her, thinking of her parents.

"You can hurt me," she snarled, a

shocking the girl. "but you can't hurt my family!"

The girl looked stricken for a moment, then she growled and raised her hand to slap her.

"You shouldn't have come here, you little prick!"

Sakura braced for impact.

There was a slap of skin, but Sakura didn't feel pain. Slowly, she raised her head, and gaped.

Martina's hand was stopped midway, caught in someone's grip.

"I come in here to this."

A calm voice stated with a sigh, and Sakura and Martina looked up to see Sasuke Uchiha.

 _When did he get here!?_

Was lunch already over?

He gave them a look of disdain.

"Sasuke, I-" started Martina, her whole demeanor changing with a hard blush. Sakura dropped to the ground when she released her hair. "We-"

"Who picks on the weak and call themselves real ninja? Why are you even going to this academy?"

He asked bluntly, a hand in his pocket. The other held Martina's wrist.

Martina seemed to almost faint, whether from embarrassment or because of her obsession with the boy, Sakura did not know.

"I was just... testing her!" she cried.

"Y-yeah." She waved in Sakura's general direction. "She looks so pitiful right? Plus, she's from that awful Haruno village. I was just making sure she knew her place in case she decided to kill us all!"

Sakura gasped at her. What the heck!? What more lies would this girl tell to get on Sasuke's good side? Why would she _ever_ want to kill anyone?

Sasuke's gaze narrowed, dropping her arm. "That's a pretty big assumption about someone who keeps to herself."

"I-I-its her plan!" Martina shouted. "Quiet girls are the deadliest, you know. Especially ones with the nine tailed curse all over her!" she pointed accusingly at Sakura, eyes teary as she looked at Sasuke.

Sakura was watching in horror.

 _What is she saying?_

However, Sasuke didn't look concerned at Sakura's potential evil, he just gave her a look and held out a hand.

"Need help?"

She realized she was still on the ground.

Sakura nodded, blushing when their hands touched and she was reminded of the accident earlier that led to the kiss.

She didn't look him in the eye, especially when Martina seemed to breathe down her neck with jealousy.

Sasuke turned to her again, eyes narrowed.

"You're in my way."

Martina looked beaten by those words. Her voice was hoarse as she tried again.

"Sasuke, I overheard it with the Hokage himself! Please, you have to see she's no good!"

Sasuke gave her a hard look, much to the girls' surprise.

Sakura watched with inner victory as the girl scurried out of his way, eyes down in shame.

However, she wasn't done. As Sakura went to follow Sasuke, she moved forward too.

"Sorry!" She cried, and quickly grabbed Sakura by her collar.

 _Wait, what!?_

She was yanked by her side, pressed to her body. Sasuke stopped walking to turn to them.

"We'll leave." she crooned. And inside Sakura's head she yelled no! as she was led away toward the girls bathroom.

"Wait-" Sakura began in a panic.

An arm snaked around Sakura's waist then, stopping their progression effectively.

The owner spoke up over her head. "She's walking with me."

Sakura looked up at Sasuke, not believing her ears. Was he really saving her?

Shocked, the orange-haired girl quickly let go of Sakura, who coughed and rubbed at her neck.

She'd left no mercy in pulling her.

"Oh! Sorry," exclaimed Martina falsely. "you should have said something before, Sasuke."

Sasuke gave her a look that said he didn't care.

"Lets go," stated the boy to no one in particular, and turned to walk up the hall where the classrooms began. Sakura was hesitant, but moved when she realized he was going to leave her with Martina.

"Sasuke,wait!" she said, moving to cross his path.

He stopped, looking surprised at her movement.

Sakura wanted to ask Martina what she'd been talking about about her home and herself, about how she knew what the Hokage knew, but she didn't want to do it alone.

And Sasuke was helping her now.

"Sasuke, I-I-I need-" she stammered, but Sasuke put up a hand before she could manage a word.

"I only got involved because I don't like to see people pick on the weak. I don't want any part of your predicament."

Sakura's mouth was left open.

After a few moments of awkward silence on her part, he moved around her to continue to class.

"It's better for you not to know, anyway. Whatever it is that girl was spouting."

Sakura stared at the tiles under her feet, heart pounding with the urge to say she did need to know, but too afraid to speak.

Being shy, _that_ was the real curse.

The halls began to fill with feet and kids returning from the lunchroom, and, startled at the noise, Sakura stood frozen.

 _Oh,Gods. I have to go back to class!_

She started to move, then halted as Iruka-sensei's face entered her mind.

The _monster's_ face underneath.

She gulped and backed a step.

Martina and Sasuke had left already and the children from lunch were starting to show themselves in the hall. If any of them saw her just standing there, she'd become a laughing stock.

So, Sakura sucked in her gut and moved back to her class.

Iruka-sensei was sitting at his desk, reading his notes, when she entered in. All of her classmates, including Sasuke, was there.

She gulped, spotting Ino and Naruto bantering with their peers, and she was struck with the horrid thought that they might hate her now.

Especially the teacher.

"Sakura," said Iruka-sensei, smiling up at her. She was surprised.

He wasn't...angry?

Iruka-sensei gestured to her seat beside Ino and Sasuke, Naruto behind them.

"Have a seat, Sakura. I want to say something to all of you."

Sakura hesitantly moved to sit, unwilling to meet anyone in the eye. She felt her heart beating erratically as their teacher stood.

He was going to tell everyone that she yelled at him and took off out of the classroom during lunch.

Her life would be ruined.

"I want to say something about Haruno Sakura, everyone."

 _Here it comes._

"I've been hearing rumors from everyone concerning her village. I keep hearing that she has a curse. Anyone know who brought that up?" No one spoke.

"That's, right, because it didn't come from this class but Anki's down the hall. Now, I want you all to understand something here. Sakura is no threat to us. And she is as much a victim to her village as if anyone of us went inside it."

Then he smiled warmly at her, which made her blush deepen.

"Everyone is equal here and no one will treat your birth any different. As you know, Naruto _has_ the nine-tailed fox inside him."

Sakura expected everyone to react to this, some kind of exclamation or something, but no one did.

Naruto's hand touched her shoulder then, and she looked over at him.

His blue eyes were full of tears, but he was smiling.

"Who cares if you got a curse, we'll protect you anyway."

"Cause you're a part of this class," Ino spoke beside her. When Sakura looked at her, she playfully punched her shoulder. "And run like that again, I'll kill you," she laughed. "You didn't even get to eat!"

 _What? I don't understand. Why are they being so nice to me?_

They must have planned this while she was deciding whether to come back or not.

She caught someone watching her then, and turned to see Sasuke nod his head.

That little movement from him broke her.

She cried into her arms hard, snot stuffing her nose and her throat getting raw.

People began to touch her back and murmur well wishes to her. It felt like the whole class.

 _No way are people this kind. No way am I living in such a moment like this._

 _No way..._

She smelled something like food near her suddenly, and she raised her head a little.

A boy with swirls on his wide cheeks held out a box of ramen to her. Choji, she remembered.

Her stomach growled for the food he offered her.

"You never ate, so everyone decided to give you this."

"Th-thank you," she said quietly, taking it. A girl with short black hair and clear-colored eyes handed over some chopsticks, blushing as she did so. "H-h-here, Sakura. Th-this is for you." Sakura knew her to be Hinata. Her voice was soft as pillows.

Sakura grinned at her, her spirits soaring as she looked at everyone.

Then at Iruka-sensei.

Even though they all must have thought she ran out of the room because of a different reason, she was still very happy.

Especially because she never had to tell them the truth.

The day was over quickly afterwards, a thick stack of ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques in everyone's hands. After their speech to Sakura, everyone had buckled down to work like nothing had happened. Sakura was happy about that, but she knew Iruka-sensei would want to talk to her afterwards, so she waited while everyone left after Iruka-sensei's signal.

She stood to approach his desk where he sat grading worksheets.

He smiled. "So, Haruno. Is it time to go talk to the Hokage?"

Sakura remembered what Martina said about her overhearing the third Hokage talking about her curse, and spoke.

"Martina said something about hearing the Hokage mention about me and the- my- curse." She stumbled over the words. She wasn't used to thinking of her village as such. She always figured her people's evil ways were due to their own thoughts.

"It's really similar to the Uchiha's."

Spoke Iruka-sensei.

She looked up at him with astonishment.

 _Really!?_

"But, more importantly, Martina Santos should not have been near the Hokage office at all. I'll have a talk with her teacher." Then he looked closer at her.

"When did she tell you this?"

"When I...ran, she came out of nowhere and..." Sakura trailed off, connecting something. Martina was there, but she showed up out of the blue. The hall they were in connected to the Hokage's office because it was closest to the exit of the Academy, so...

Sakura looked at her teacher with a gasp.

"Martina was sneaking around the Hokage's office, sensei!"

And that was grounds for suspension big time, their teachers made sure to tell them that that day.

Iruka sensei nodded thoughtfully, standing.

His dark eyes were narrowed.

"So it was her who spread the rumors, huh?"

Sakura startled at that. "D-does everyone know?"

His face told her an unfortunate yes. "I'm sorry, Sakura."

Sakura's fingers trembled, but she squeezed them together to stop them.

 _It was bound to happen._

"Lets go," Her sensei said, leading her to the doors.

"The Hokage is waiting."


	7. chapter 7

This was a really hard chapter to write. Not that it was emotional or anything, though it is, it was just where I explain what you need to know at this point. The next few chapters will be focused on Sasuke now, so you have been forewarned. Happy reading! And keep reviewing too. Also, if you have some useful constructive feedback to give me I am all fingers?

* * *

"So, Sakura," said Iruka-sensei as they walked side by side down the hall. All around them were kids and teachers, readying themselves to leave. The banging of the old lockers and talking filled Sakura's ears as Iruka-sensei weaved between them to get to the Hokage's office.

The people however, never seemed to touch Sakura as she followed her sensei closely behind, especially the adults. They sometimes looked her way with a frown and quicken their pace. It totally confused her.

"I wanted to ask you why you ran away like that earlier." Iruka sensei was saying. "You looked so pale." Sakura looked up at him with surprise.

He wasn't watching, choosing to stare forward.

She thought of when she saw him as a monster, and realized how weird she must have seemed to him. Him, Ino _and_ Naruto.

 _But, I can't tell them the truth._ She thought worriedly to herself. _They would think I'm crazy!_

"Sensei," she said softly, watching her feet move in time with his. They were getting closer to the Hokage's doors within seconds.

"I..."

"Were you feeling pressured by me wanting you to speak to the Hokage? If you were, that's fine. I realized you were touchy when it came to people talking to you, but I-"

"That's no it at all!" Sakura said loudly to stop his rambling. Unfortunately it was loud enough for the people near them to hear, and they gave her looks.

She quickly put her head down, blushing. Iruka-sensei patted her head in assurance as he spoke.

"Alright, alright," it sounded like laughter. And relief. "I just figured that was the case, so we can be on good terms from now on."

 _Ah._ He must have felt she hated him.

Sakura thought of something.

"Sensei, why did you tell the class all of that...about respecting me?"

She was watching Iruka-sensei when he looked away. Her heart suddenly dropped at the action.

 _What? Why did you look away?_

"Sakura..." Iruka-sensei tried to put into words his thoughts, but his face changed into relief when they made it to the Hokage's office, and he reached for the door slider.

The men on each side of it nodded to them once they realized Iruka-sensei. He flashed a look back, and returned to look at Sakura.

"We'll let the adults tell you all about it." He replied instead, giving her a quick smile. However, even though she knew he just avoided her question, Sakura was too caught up in his words to care.

 _The adults!_ She panicked. _but aren't we just speaking with-_

Her sensei opened the door before she could finish her thought.

The first people she saw were a man and a woman with dark hair and eyes, similar to someone else's who was in her class, but she couldn't quite place them.

She was more concerned about the other two couples standing beside them anyway, the two adults who grinned wide at her when they saw her.

"Mommy!? Daddy!?"

Sakura exclaimed, and ran into their open arms.

"Sakura!" They shouted into their embrace, hugging her as tight as always.

Her father rubbed her head playfully, grinning just as wide as her.

"How was school, kiddo?"

"We're you good?" her mother added, kissing her cheek.

Sakura giggled, pulling away from them in embarrassment. Her spirits had just lifted.

"Everything's good!" she said.

"It better be," growled her father, and nuzzled her neck. "or papa bear will have words!"

Sakura laughed as she pulled away from her family, and turned to her teacher with a big smile.

"You should have told me they were here!"

"And miss that smile of yours?" He laughed himself. "No way."

"Aww, isn't she cute." said a female voice. "You weren't kidding, Kizashi, look at her!"

Her father smiled over his shoulder at her, laughing. "Yup! Told ya!"

Sakura felt the usual groan in her head at her father's antics.

Was he bragging about her again?

She looked away from Iruka-sensei to see who he was talking to.

The man caught her eye first. He had long dark hair and a piercing stare.

He directed them at her now, and Sakura quickly looked away, towards the woman beside him.

She smiled blindingly at her, her dark eyes twinkling with mirth. "Sakura Haruno, right? You're in my son's class."

Sakura immediately blushed at the attention, and tried to snuggle in the safety of her mother's arms. Her mother wasn't having it.

"Sakura, you're not a baby. She just wants to talk to you."

Sakura started to complain to her, she didn't even know the woman, but was interrupted by a cough at the front of the room.

"Are we done with the reunion?" Asked an old man's voice.

Sakura startled, glancing over at the desk she thought was empty when she came in, and jumped at the sight of someone sitting behind it.

It was the Hokage, and he was watching them with a serious, but bemused expression. The red hat on his head seemed to bask in the afternoon light shining from the window beside him.

 _The H-H-Hokage!_ Sakura screamed in her head.

He was real! sitting in front of them in the flesh.

Sakura had heard so many stories about the one of the five kage from her father. His strength, his love and fierce dedication to his people were among her father's favorites. He was the protector to all of Konoha.

 _Even to villages like mine._ She added to herself.

Being homeschooled by her parents and learning everything from books, seeing this god-like person in her presence felt near impossible to Sakura.

The Hokage suddenly grinned at her, and she nearly fainted.

Everyone laughed, but she was too dizzy to care.

"Alright," said the Hokage, sounding serious all of a sudden. "Now that we have everyone, time to get to the bottom of this."

This quickly sobered Sakura, and she looked at the Hokage again, now curious for a different reason.

"My curse," she answered quietly.

Beside the Hokage, Iruka-sensei looked worried.

"Sakura, is it?" asked the Hokage as he looked her over.

Sakura felt underdressed in her navy blue sweater and green slacks, and she blushed.

 _If I'd known_ I _would be meeting the Hokage, I would have dressed like a real ninja._

Though she honestly didn't know what real ninjas would wear to formal occasions.

"Y-yes, that's me."

The Hokage grinned. "A lovely young girl, too. I hear you've been having some issues lately regarding your situation."

Sakura nodded.

"Issues?" Her mother asked. She turned to her with laser green eyes. "What issues?"

Sakura gulped. "Nothing _bad..."_

"And what is this 'curse' thing about? Why are we having to discuss it with our daughter?" Her father asked the Hokage. He sounded as serious as he had at the gates, when that gatekeeper called their village cursed and before that, mentioned something about wars with their name in it.

 _The Haruno wars. What, exactly, is that?_

"Kizashi," began the Hokage, startling her out of her thoughts. "You came in here by orders of my party not because this was a requirement for all students, but because I wanted to discuss some things with your daughter. The same things you and your wife likely already know."

 _Huh? What is he talking about? What my parents already know?_

Sakura watched her parents' faces. Their eyes seemed to spark with recognition, but they looked grim about it.

Her mother spoke up. "Sir, with all due respect, we'd like to discuss those things with our daughter ourselves."

"Yet, she comes here knowing nothing of her heritage?" challenged the Hokage. He steepled his hands together, watching her family with a new look in his eye.

He reminded Sakura of a cobra ready to strike.

Her father growled. Sakura got the feeling he did not care to meet his long time hero anymore.

"Sir," he said. "These things are not known to the public, they're-"

"Known to the Academy now," Iruka-sensei spoke, interrupting him.

"And now, as we speak, the people of this village."

"Huh?" Said her father, shocked.

The Hokage turned away with a guilty look. "Ah, I might have let my big mouth run with one of my agents. And, if I'm correct Iruka, a little girl overheard?"

"Yes sir," said Sakura's teacher with a nod. "Martina Santos, the young one of the Fuma sisters attending here, was, uh, eavesdropping. That's grounds for dismissal from the academy-"

Sakura's mother was shaking with anger, standing to interrupt her teacher and the Hokage. "Impossible," She nearly shouted, still on the subject of the curse being kept to themselves. "You told us this would stay secret!"

"What secret!" shouted Sakura. This shut up everyone in the room.

She flushed almost immediately when everyone's eyes fell on her, but she continued.

She was tired of not knowing what was going on.

The Hokage smiled at her when she turned to glare at him.

"What is the curse about?"

Her mother tried to tug her back in her lap. "Sakura, be quiet-"

"No," said the Hokage with a wave of his hand. "It's time she knew."

He turned back to her. There was knowing in her eyes, like he knew what she was feeling.

Sakura's mother released her reluctantly, and Sakura shakily stood there, nodding for the Hokage to go on. He did.

"Let me tell you a story, little one. A long time ago your village was a part of Konoha like all the others. Then the nine-tailed fox broke free from us and went rampage in Konoha. You know the story well, don't you?"

Of course she did. Everyone knew.

"But, this is where it changes up a bit, well, not the destruction the nine tailed fox wrought on us, of course." He chuckled a dark laugh, and continued. "There were some villages that were wiped off the face of the earth, and others that were cursed by the beasts' doing. After Minato sealed the creature away safely inside his son attending school here, the land of fire slowly rebuilt itself.

However, it wasn't resolved like a perfectly wrapped present topped with a bow. No, some of those villages it cursed were corrupted. Yours, the Uchiha's, and the Fumas. To name a few."

The Hokage said.

Sakura blinked at him in utter shock.

"What?"

It had to take her a moment to process all that he just told her, but what leapt out at her the most was the mention of Naruto.

She knew about Naruto having the nine tails inside him, but she had no idea how serious it was. How did he have such a beast that caused such evil _inside_ him!?

She thought of the boy who seemed to be so high spirited all the time. It didn't even seem like he cared to be an orphan.

"Naruto?" She whispered aloud, trembling.

"Hm?" asked the Hokage. "Did you say Naruto's name?"

Sakura looked up at him, still feeling shock.

"That can't be true. Why would he... Who would..."

She couldn't get it out.

"Sakura, Naruto is an orphan for a reason. Too boil it down a bit, his father sealed the beast inside him, thus saving everyone." Iruka-sensei explained.

Sakura did not know any of that. If she had...well, she'd never particularly been mean to Naruto, but her thoughts about him being annoying was a little shameful on her part.

Yet, such a large and evil creature...

The nine tailed fox always seemed like a bigger-than-life form to than the horror of her village, mentioning the beast put nightmares in her head.

Who knew what it did to Naruto's state of mind.

Her mother spoke behind her then, touching her back.

"Blossom," she whispered. Her voice sounded uncommonly numb. "Are you alright?"

Sakura realized she had been quiet for awhile, and the room was silent. She looked at the everyone but her parents, trying to quell the weird feeling she got in her gut when they spoke to her now.

It felt uncomfortably like...anger.

"Sir," she said, ignoring her parents' stares. "What are the Haruno wars?"

"The what?" The Hokage asked, confused. Sakura opened her mouth to explain, and then shut it. Wait, he didn't _know?!_

"Sakura,"

She finally looked over at her parents, who were wearing stiff faces.

"What are they mommy and daddy?"

"That's not related to this in any way, Sakura. Let's leave it at that."

Sakura stared at her mother as she finished her words, but she was even more confused. Why, then, did that gatekeeper say anything about the wars?

And why didn't the Hokage know what they were?

She started to ask her parents those questions, wondering what the Hokage thought since he had yet to speak, when a shriek made her jump.

"Get it, Fugaku, it's _crawling on me!"_

"Jeez, woman, aren't you a ninja? Why are you screaming?"

Her eyes stopped on the dark-haired couple beside her parents, watching them with wide eyes as the man leaned over his wife and batted a fly off her leg. It took flight out of the room through a crack in the ceiling.

"Weird bugs," she heard the man mutter. Sakura looked more closely at the couple, realizing their presences again.

"Who are you?" she blurted.

The woman, composing herself, gave her a quick smile, but it was the man who spoke.

His voice boomed. "We are Sasuke's parents. I assume you are in his class? This is my wife Mikoto, and I am Fugaku. Nice to meet you."

"And we're happy to answer any questions you have for us, Sakura." Added Mikoto. "That's why the Hokage asked for us."

"Ah, yes," answered the Hokage, he looked sheepish. "But, I was planning on telling her that."

Fugaku smirked at his wife. She blushed seriously, turning on her husband when she noticed his expression. "Hey, y-you butt in too, you know!"

"Sure I did, but only to answer the girl's question. _You_ on the other hand did the butting in."

"Oh, shut up, Fugu."

"Woman, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that in public!"

But, Sakura was not listening to them, she was in a completely new level of shock.

 _Sasuke's parents are here? Then that means..._

"Ah, We should have thought to tell Itachi to give Sasuke a note to head over here instead of home!" Mikoto complained suddenly, startling Sakura.

"Fugaku, why didn't you say anything!?"

Fugaku looked annoyed. "Maybe because I forgot myself. This was a last minute call, anyway. It was only natural that we would forget, Mikoto."

"Urgh! Why do I even bother with-"

"This is stupid," Sakura's father interrupted. Everyone turned to look at Sakura's father.

Hizashi Haruno was fuming in his seat the whole time, ever since the Hokage began his story, but now he stood. His blue eyes were hard as agates as he looked at the Hokage.

"Hizashi?" asked her mother, but her father spoke over her as if she hadn't said anything.

"These things are not something Sakura should know yet. This 'curse' is nothing but our people's hate towards each other. I've told you before that we hate living outside of Konoha years ago, and that is what fuels our anger."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed at that.

"If that's the case, Hizashi, what was the reason we relocated you in the first place? Was it not to keep the rest of the villages safe from your so-called hate? You imply your people are not cursed but, why kill each other over nothing?"

"It's the atmosphere we breathe, sir," said Sakura's mother. Her face was closed off, but Sakura could see the tremble of unbridled rage on her person. It kind of scared her.

"There are fumes that come from Suna and blows into our village. It makes the people go crazy. The nine-tailed fox had nothing to do with this."

"You could be referring to the chakra patterns in our systems," her father continued for her.

"Which leads me to believe you have shinobi with high chakra control spying on us."

"Spying on you?!" Exclaimed Iruka-sensei. He looked like he wanted to leap at her father.

"How about telling yourselves that-"

"Stop it, Iruka," The Hokage put an arm out. Iruka-sensei obeyed reluctantly.

Sakura was really scared now. She looked back and forth between her stiff-postured parents to the Hokage's steeled face, noticing the silent battle they were wielding.

Mikoto and Fugaku even looked tensed as they watched with narrowed eyes at the adults before them.

Sakura remembered the first bit of the lesson her sensei had taught the class, about chakra and its fluctuations with emotion. If Sakura didn't know any better the chakra in the room now felt way too intense, and she suddenly wanted to run out of there.

Finally, just as she was contemplating doing that, the Hokage sighed heavily.

"Alright. It is your choice, in the end, to tell your daughter what needs to be said." Then he gave them a hard look.

"However, if she is going to stay here she needs to know what the curse means for her."

"What it means for me?"

Sakura looked to her parents, who were staring at the ground.

"Mom? Dad?"

She saw that her mother was crying, startling Sakura.

"Mom?!" she started for her, but her father raised his palm in a stop sign, his face was filled with remorse.

"I can't believe this has to come out _now._ You're still eight, nowhere near old enough to know." Then he took a deep breath, and looked her in the eye.

"Sakura. You can see the dead."

Sakura started. "That's not even funny,daddy!" she shouted at him, upset. Why was he joking with her all of a sudden?

Her father shook his head. Then he reached for her and placed his big hand directly on her face.

Startled, she started to move back, but froze when she felt his chakra ease her mind, and suddenly, thoughts of her people killing each other filled her head.

Even when she'd been protected by her four walls, she knew what was going on outside her home. She imagined bullet after bullet destroying an innocent's soul or a knife slitting a burdened man's throat. She imagined the truly evil people getting caught by Uchiha police and murdered right on the spot. _Its for their own good,_ they would say.

And then she remembered earlier, when she looked at Iruka sensei and her head felt like it was going to split in two. She'd seen the face of a monster, but she now suspected what it truly was.

The dead.

She heard Mikoto gasp at her father's words in her daze, and she took a step back with a hard shake of her head.

He dropped his hand wearily. "Calmed down?"

Despite him using her favorite childhood trick on her, she shook her head at him, devastated at the truth.

"No," she said softly. "You're a liar. I-I'm normal like everyone else. I don't have a curse, I can't see the dead. I'm normal. Right?" Sakura asked, whirling around to the Hokage.

She whispered. "Tell me the truth."

The Hokage's eyes were full of pity, but so was Iruka-sensei's when she turned to him.

Why were they giving her that look? Why weren't they _saying_ anything?

"Sakura," said a soft voice behind her.

She turned, tears running down her face to meet a dark dress. She looked up at Mikoto, who must have gotten up when Sakura fell into her state of denial.

The look she was giving her was one of kindness. Mikoto hugged her with no warning, squeezing her tight.

"No more crying, sweet girl. You are too cute for that. Now, listen. What your parents told you was for you to understand who you really are." The woman pulled back then, smiling down at her. Sakura was surprised to see tears in _her_ eyes.

"You have a gift, yes. But it is not bad, not unless you make it so."

"My head hurts when I see them. I saw it as Iruka-sensei." Sakura said bluntly, a tremble in her voice.

Mikoto looked surprised at that, looking up in his direction, but only for a second. She placed a dainty hand on Sakura's head.

"You just have to learn to control it. Like us Uchihas."

"Huh?"

Mikoto grinned. "You think what we have is any different from your curse? Ours has our people liable for hating as much as yours. We, fortunately, can overcome it." Then she winked. "And yours can too. I mean, you're hear now, aren't you?"

Sakura nodded, a little spellbound.

"And are you feeling the need to hate?"

Sakura hesitated a little. She was feeling anger towards her parents, and something else toward the Hokage for just... _leaving_ them in such a predicament, but it wasn't nowhere near hate. Was it?

Sakura put her head down, feeling frustration well in her.

"I don't know," she told her.

Mikoto only rubbed her back.

"I know it wasn't nice for your parents to do this to you, but you can always call on the Uchihas for help with anything, ok?"

"Mikoto!" growled Fugaku where he sat beside Sakura's parents. They still had their heads down, as if they were contemplating something.

Fugaku looked angry. "We are not outside in the hall or anything. Her parents have ears."

Mikoto waved him off. "Fugaku, she needs to know she has friends."

"Not if that means angering-"

"We're not angry," Sakura's father stated looking up. Gone was the cheerful look about Hizashi Haruno. He now resembled one of the Jounens outside the Hokage's office, steel and ice.

He gave a look over to the Hokage, standing up with his wife. Her mother, too, had a steely look about her. It was as if they transformed in that brief moment they sat there.

"We're going to leave, sir," her father said formally. "And we may not come back."

"What?!" Cried Mikoto, shocked. She took the words right out of Sakura's mouth.

 _W-why!?_

The Hokage and Iruka-sensei stared at him, as did Fugaku.

"So, that is your decision?" stated the Hokage after a moment of complete quiet.

Her father nodded. "We enrolled Sakura in to learn and gain skills to defend herself against our own people. After all, she has to learn how to get around in our world and stay alive, but that was in agreement with your secrecy of our village's ways. You did not uphold that agreement, so I'm forced to return to our village without her training."

Sakura felt frozen. _No, please. This place is the first time I ever had to a real life! I started to make friends here!_

She was a screaming in her head, thinking of her class and how they readily agreed to protect her. Of Ino and Sasuke, who, without knowing her, had saved her from Martina. Of Naruto, who didn't care if she had some curse.

Those were her friends! And her family was taking her away from them!

 _I can't let them!_

The Hokage, however, must have read her very thoughts, because he gave her a little smile, and spoke.

"How does Sakura feel about that, old friend? Do you believe, with that determined face, that she would go without a fight?"

Her parents turned to her then, startled at his inquiry.

Sakura was just as surprised, but she steeled herself just as her parents seemed to be doing, and nodded.

"I won't go. No matter what. I have friends here. I have a life. Please, don't make me stay inside our home forever!"

Her mother gave her a disapproving glare. "Sakura. Your father knows what's best for you and you will do as he says-"

"NO I WONT," Sakura shouted as loud as she could, her eyes squeezed shut with the effort.

The room went silent.

Sakura spoke. "You keep stuff from me and want me to follow you, b-but some of those things are important for me to know. How would you feel if your parents told you nothing about your power and still wanted you to do stuff?! Don't you care if I die out there? Don't you think I still need this?"

When she finished her outburst she felt like a deflated balloon and swore her face was flushed. Her heart pounded hard as she watched her parents' faces, as did everyone else.

Finally, her father smiled. And it was the big goofy grin Sakura loved so much.

"Fine, Sakura. You win." He chuckled to her mother. "Jeez, Mebuki, our daughter has grown up! She's talking like an adult!"

Her mother grinned too. It was like their anger had suddenly disappeared. "Yep. That's my girl!"

Sakura gave them a look of disbelief.

The Hokage chuckled to himself and Iruka-sensei muttered something to no one in particular.

"So, I can stay?" Sakura asked hopefully.

Her parents nodded, but she didn't miss the slight hesitation from the two.

It kind of worried her, but she dismissed it to grin wide at them.

"So," grunted Fugaku. He was standing from his seat to go to his wife. Still with Sakura, Sasuke's mother smiled at him and stepped to his side.

"If that was all," she called to the Hokage. "May we leave?"

After the Hokage nodded, Mikoto winked at Sakura.

Sakura blushed.

"Remember that we're here for you when you need us. Are you already friends with my boy?"

She asked as an afterthought.

Sakura didn't really know for sure, Sasuke was a mystery to her, but she nodded anyway.

"Good! Then you'll have nothing to worry about with anyone trying to pick on you, bye!"

And the Uchihas left, leaving Sakura feeling like they were planning something she wouldn't think a certain someone would like.

"I'm not going to say anything bad about that woman," growled Sakura's mother. "But she doesn't have any regard for others does she? That's _my_ daughter she's cuddling."

Sakura turned to her with a reassuring grin, wanting for her to stop staring at the door.

"Its ok, mom, honest. I still love _you._ "

She seemed relatively satisfied by that.

"Well, we're gonna go now,"said her father, moving for the door. "We'll keep her here. The damage has already been done and we can't undo it. Just, make sure you keep an eye on her. The fact that she can see the dead is unstable right now, and she doesn't need to be stressed out too much."

"Right," said the Hokage and Iruka-sensei both.

"Come on Sakura, lets go."

Sakura followed her parents out of the office, looking back on a whim to her Hokage and her teacher.

They were talking low with each other, stealing glances at her parents as they did so.

It made Sakura feel uneasy. But her father's voice pulled her away from them before she could think to call out to her teacher, and she let the doors shut.

"Sakura," he said as he led his family to the exit. Sakura looked up at him.

His pink hair high on his head reflected the sun as they stepped outside.

"Now you know who you really are," He turned to her, a stern look on his face. "If you have any questions, spill it now."

Sakura stopped in front of the Academy's steps. She held her breath, thinking of what to say.

She wanted to ask so many questions.

What was her power like? Where did it come from? Why didn't the Hokage do anything to help their village when he clearly knew of their curse? And many more.

But, what she desperately wanted to know now was, "Why are you still keeping secrets from me?"

Her parents stiffened at her inquiry.

"What?" asked her mother. "We're not, the Hokage told you everything about the curse and-"

"and _you two_ know more." Sakura finished for her.

She gave them a hard stare, her heart bleeding with the uncomfortable fact that _her parents didn't trust her._

"Do you think I won't be able to handle it? What about the wars? Do you think I'll cry if I learn the truth?"

Kizashi's shoulders suddenly slumped, and he knelt before his daughter. At eye level now, Sakura could see the bags under his eyes cleary.

Behind him her mother had her eyes closed, as if she was praying to the Gods.

"Sakura," said her father. His hands gripping her shoulders weighed on her and made her think of herself as a sudden burden.

She frowned at him.

"I can't tell you now, and we _do_ trust you, more than you'll ever know," he said to her with watery blue eyes. "But, please, please know we will tell you everything. Soon. Just, for right now, will you focus on the Academy for us?"

Her mother opened her eyes a little to see her reaction to his request, and Sakura faintly nodded.

They smiled almost at the same time.

"That's my girl," whispered her mother, and her father kissed her forehead.

"Thanks, Blossom. You're the best."

Sakura watched as her family took each of her hands in theirs and whistled as they walked the long way home.

As the sun was setting, Sakura had no choice but to give in to her parents pleas, with the hope that they would some day tell her everything.

Because they said they trusted her.

And that, for now, was all that mattered.


	8. Chapter 8

Sasuke got back home with a relieved sigh.

School that day was finally over.

Ever since the first day of school two months ago, he had been bogged down with handwritten assignments and scenario tactics made by his sensei. It was exhausting work to learn so much in that time and _not_ be stressed physically. He was just glad there were breaks like these where he could go home at the end of the day and relax.

And he knew just the way to do it.

He smiled to himself and walked up the porch steps to his home, taking off his shoes before sneaking in.

He immediately sensed Itachi's presence in the kitchen, and darted to the couch for the little nook he liked to use when hiding from his big brother.

Right on time Itachi came through into the living room, wiping his soapy hands with a towel. He must have just finished the dishes, Sasuke snickered inside his head. It was always fun to know his mother liked to pile work on the two older males in the house. Since Sasuke was still a kid, he got off Scott-free.

Itachi looked around with his dark eyes as if hearing something. Then he shrugged a shoulder and moved to go back into the kitchen.

But he didn't.

And before Sasuke realized what he was planning, the taller boy had him by the waist and tossed him playfully on the couch.

Sasuke yelped, surprised at the quick movement, but glared up at him with a blank face as the older boy laughed.

"That was a nice hiding place you had there," chuckled Itachi. "next time pick one I haven't picked you out from."

"I knew you'd do that, Itachi. I'm no fool."

"Oh?" His brother asked curiously. Sasuke grinned then, wide and mischievous.

"I hid here to do this!"

He leapt up and used Itachi's shoulder to drop onto his back, squeezing his legs around his chest and his arms around his eyes.

"Surprise attack!"

Itachi shouted with surprise, wobbling in place as Sasuke laughed and led him around the room.

"Mmph!" Itachi played along, until he tripped on something and they both went down. Itachi landed on his back, effectively shielding Sasuke from the fall.

On top of him now, Sasuke grinned down at him, knowing by the calm look in his eye that the fall didn't hurt him one bit.

"Will you train me today?"

Itachi smiled like he always did when Sasuke asked him this question, and raised his finger. Immediately Sasuke put his hands over his forehead, sticking his tongue out at Itachi when he stopped his progress.

Itachi sighed like the act was the most dreadful thing to make. "Sasuke,I can't. I have to work."

Not that again.

Sasuke frowned, his merriment gone like that. "Itachi, you _promised_!" He stressed.

In his moment of frustration he put his hands down, and Itachi used that moment to poke him-in the side.

"Gah!" Sasuke cried out, and held his most ticklish spot, glaring down at him. Itachi chuckled.

"Later, Sasuke. I prom-"

"Stop it, Itachi," he said, upset. "I'm not a little kid anymore. You have to work, whatever, just don't say you'll do it and make an excuse the next day!"

He leapt off him, running for his room.

"Sasuke."

Itachi's voice stopped him in his tracks like it always seemed to do, and Sasuke turned to glare at him. Itachi was standing, giving him a faint smile now.

"What happened today? You don't get upset so easily."

Sasuke blushed, angry that he was so observant. Something had been bothering him, but he figured it was his usual egging to train harder than his peers. He wanted to be good enough for his family after all.

"What do you mean?" he asked him, crossing his arms.

Itachi walked into the kitchen, having Sasuke quickly following him.

"Hey, Itachi-"

Sasuke stopped as he saw his father sitting at the table eating. He looked up when they came in.

"Father," said Sasuke, a slight tremor in his voice. His father was the only one who could make him feel less than himself. Like a child.

The man raised his coal black eyes to him and briefly nodded his head before returning to his plate.

 _Didn't even think to greet me when you obviously sensed my presence._

Thought Sasuke. Then Itachi spoke. "Father, we're going for a walk."

Sasuke was surprised at that, he turned to look at his brother. "Huh?"

His face was unreadable. Their father continued to eat. "And where do you plan on going?"

"The Haruno village." He said truthfully. "There was a shoot out there that piqued a friend of mine's interest. It was said an Uchiha resident went over there that same night, but she never came back. Sasuke and I will stroll over there so I can investigate the matter. "

His father gave him a look. "That hardly concerns you. And why take Sasuke to such a dangerous place?"

"I was asked by a member of the Uchiha police, father." Itachi said with a slight frown. "And Sasuke will be fine under my protection."

Sasuke stared at Itachi. How did an Uchiha policeman know him? Did it pertain to his "work"?"

Their father looked like he wanted to know too. He gave his eldest son a knowing look.

"Itachi, how did you come to this information? If I recall, you were here the entire week."

Itachi's expression never changed, but his demeanor did. Suddenly, Sasuke felt the sudden urge to protect his father.

But it quickly went away when the shinobi smiled. "I might have sneaked around a bit. It's so boring here when you're grounded."

 _Grounded?_

Their father closed his eyes as if pained. "Yet, you have been disobeying. Your mother is the one who grounded you, you know that, right?"

Sasuke's brother looked down. "Yes, of course. I knew what I was getting myself into if I did that. But," he added, lifting his head. "It was worth it."

Their father narrowed his eyes, but said nothing after a moment of silent consideration. Then he gave a little nod.

"Go. Before she gets here from work and I'll have to tell her what you did."

"Of course," Itachi bowed, and started to lead Sasuke out of the house, but was stopped by another inquiry from their father.

"Who was this Uchiha that was dumb enough to venture there?"

Itachi didn't turn around.

"I do not know, I never got her name."

"Hmm," he replied, waving at them to go.

 _What was that about?_ Thought Sasuke as they put on their shoes and headed toward the main village.

Sasuke watched his brother as they walked, wondering what he was talking about with his father. There was obviously more to the situation than what they were willing to reveal around him. Once again Sasuke felt frustration as he realized his family didn't trust him with anything important. And something in the Haruno village? Wasn't that where that pink-haired girl stayed?

An old lady passed close by them, suddenly, carrying an old broom in her hands. She stopped when Sasuke glanced at her in startlement. She surprised him.

"Hi there, you two. Will you mind helping an old lady clean her front porch?"

The woman was plump and dressed in the Uchiha's main color, black and blue. The Uchiha crest was on her back. Sasuke watched Itachi stop to give her a warm smile. The way she blushed made him stifle a laugh. People, especially the women, always did that to him.

"Sorry, ma'am, we're in a hurry." said Itachi.

"Oh," the lady's smile saddened. "It was a try, huh?"

Itachi nodded politely and they walked on, and Sasuke saw more people with brooms, spades or sickles in their grips.

He begun to realize everyone, not just that woman, was cleaning up. "Uh, what's going on, brother? How come they're cleaning?"

"It's just something the clan thought of doing today," Itachi replied mysteriously. "No big thing. More importantly, though," he said as the two of them passed through a small passage to the Konoha village.

The villagers here wore more brighter colors than Sasuke's clan, and crests of different clans or simple villages adorned the backs of everyone.

"Why did _you_ laugh when she blushed at me? You have a number of girls your age vying for your hand as well."

Sasuke glared up at him. "That's not funny. It's annoying."

Itachi chuckled. "Still funny."

Then, Itachi spoke again, startling Sasuke when he sounded very serious.

"We will not discuss why I was grounded, but I _will_ say it had something to do with a stuffed bear, and ripping."

Sasuke winced at the word. "Sounds painful." He said thinking of Itachi ripping up a stuffed bear with amusement. Then he thought of his mother's stuffed bears, and he gasped. He stared up at Itachi to blurt the question out, but his brother expertly changed the subject.

"What happened in school today?"

Sasuke looked away from him.

"I don't know. Why are we going to the Haruno village?"

"We're not." said Itachi. They made it to a restaurant, Ichiraku's, and Itachi took a seat on a stool. " At least, you're not." he finished.

Sasuke just stood there.

"You're gonna abandon me?"

Itachi's eyes widened at the hurt look he gave him, and his brother chuckled, poking him in the forehead.

"Hey!" Sasuke shouted, angrily backing away from him. But not too far.

"Sasuke, I just wanted to talk with you. We never get to, you know. Come, tell your brother why you are upset."

"I'm not upset!"

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke looked away again, reluctant to indulge him.

He heard his brother heave a heavy sigh and talk to the owner about getting two bowls of ramen to eat, then turned back to him.

"The Haruno girl. That's what's bothering you."

Sasuke felt his heart stop at the accusation, and he turned slowly to meet his brother's calm gaze.

How could he possibly...but wait, why would he think Sasuke would be bothered by that pink-haired girl?

"Wait," said Sasuke with a sudden thought. "How do you know about her?"

As far as Sasuke knew, Itachi never went to the Academy to see him or anyone else.

 _Most likely because he was busy "working",_ Sasuke mocked in his head.

Itachi gave him a small smile, not answering his question at all.

"Itachi!"

"Here's your order sir," spoke up the owner of the shop, he held two big bowls of steaming ramen noodles. He was a big man with soup stains on his cooking apron, so it was very uncomfortable for Sasuke to see him looking at Itachi like he wanted to eat him.

Itachi, however, payed the attention no mind, as he handed over some yen and gave the man his thanks.

He left and Itachi scooted Sasuke's bowl to the empty stool beside him. "Eat" he commanded.

Sasuke, still rubbing his head from his brother's earlier poke, refused. "I never said I was hungry, Itachi."

"I don't care. You never came home during lunch period, so I know you didn't eat. So, eat."

Sasuke gave him an incredulous look. "Why are you always so nosy! I don't _have_ to come home just to eat lunch, you know! Maybe I ate at the cafeteria like everyone else!"

Itachi's look said he didn't believe him for a second, and Sasuke decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, back to the village thing-"

"You're not going. Final word."

And Itachi turned to his food, his back facing Sasuke. He glared at the Uchiha fan displayed large on his brother's dark shirt, and wanted to kick him.

"First, you won't teach me how to throw Kunai knives, now you won't let me go with you to the village! I wanna help, too-"

"Sasuke, first of all, they teach you all about throwing Kunai knives at the academy-and Shuriken- _and_ you practice constantly at home. And second, the reason why you're not going with me is because I don't want you to get into trouble with our parents. I'm grounded, remember?" He said all this while eating his noodles, as if discussing this with Sasuke was a burden.

Like Sasuke was a kid needing to be talked down to.

He growled, seriously wanting to kick his brother now, but thinking it would only prove how childish Itachi already thought he was.

He crossed his arms, glaring like his mother liked to do with them when she noticed their rooms were still dirty from the night before.

"Is that _really_ your excuse for not taking me with you, Itachi? Because you're _grounded?_ Thats bull."

Itachi froze at that last statement, and finally turned his head to look at him.

He seemed to contemplate something for a moment, and then he spoke with a heavy sigh. "The Haruno village is extremely dangerous. I don't want you hurt."

"Then why tell father a lie? If I'm not to go?

Itachi's eyes darkened at that, but he quickly looked away.

"I had to tell our father something. Like I said, I only want to talk..."

"Alright then," he said, uncrossing his arms. "Talk. Tell me what's going on in the Haruno village. Why _did_ an Uchiha go over there?" he asked, thinking back to his father's last words.

When he didn't speak, Sasuke almost yelled at him again, but cut himself off when Itachi turned around and he saw his expression.

Sadness, deep and profound, was full in his older brother's eyes, and it scared Sasuke.

"Itachi-"

He was enveloped in a hug.

"Mmmph! What are you-"

"Sasuke, why won't you just trust me with your problems? I'm here for you now, so you can...It's stupid to keep things to yourself." He sounded so raw, so unlike his shinobi brother that Sasuke almost forgot the weird choice of words he'd used, or the fact that he changed the subject so abruptly. But, it didn't matter now.

Sasuke gripped his hands tight, swallowing hard as Itachi held him. With his chin on Itachi's large shoulder, Sasuke finally spoke.

"It's because of her," he said in a whisper. "That pink haired girl hasn't come to school this whole week."

Itachi pulled back. "Sakura Haruno hasn't been to school? What day is it?"

"Friday."

Itachi looked skeptical. "And this is the reason why you are so sad?"

"No!" Sasuke balked. "I-It's just we made this vow on the first day of school to help her, is all! Its just weird she isn't there anymore, ok!"

Itachi chuckled silently to himself. "Sure, Sasuke,"

"I'm serious!"

He remembered the girl, of course. She was hardly someone to ignore as the "cursed one" walking around the school. She was constantly getting bullied, always needing help...and it was worser that she was the type to let it all happen to her.

It frustrated Sasuke immensely. _She_ frustrated him immensely.

And then Sasuke had a thought. He gulped hard, nervous of Itachi's predictable answer when he asked it. "Itachi, she lives there, I can go with you and we can stop by her house-"

Itachi's amusement immediately vanished, and a hard look replaced the light expression. "No."

Sasuke knew he'd say that, but he still froze at the word, crushed.

"It's always like this with you and dad." he growled. "Always 'no Sasuke' and 'It's too dangerous', well, have you ever thought I _could_ help and not get in your way? No, of course you don't, because you're never around when I train by myself, _and it hurts!_ Especially when I know dad trains you everyday and never sees fault in anything you do!"

Itachi wasn't surprised by his outburst, but he wasn't relaxed either.

He put a big hand on top of Sasuke's head, and smiled tightly.

"The Uchiha woman was following someone who entered their village. A man with a high chakra that could possibly be greater than our father's." He waited until he saw it sink into Sasuke's mind, then continued.

"It turned out she only followed his trace. He was gone an entire week ago. Like your friend."

"What are you saying,Itachi?"

Sasuke asked uncertainty.

Itachi frowned. "No one goes to that place unless they are part of the Uchiha police or lives there themselves. The Haruno village is too far for normal travel, and this man is not from Konoha. There might be a connection between your Sakura and this man,"

Sasuke's heart leapt in his throat at his next words.

"She might have been taken by him."


End file.
